taranui - Caspian tern - Sterna caspia
These photos were taken at a colony of about 100 pairs way out in the dry lake bed of Lake Ellesmere. Their colony was situated on what might normally be a small, very low island, but with the very dry spring it was surrounded by hectares of bare, flat, dried mud lake bed. Most of the chicks were well grown and highly mobile, though still downy, and were gathered in large creches , but some nests still contained young birds and/or eggs.
Caspian's don't react well to disturbance so these shots were the result of a long, patient, slither across the mud pausing frequently to prevent the birds from panicking.
The largest of the native terns in New Zealand. They are about 51 centimetres long and weigh 700 grams. They have a white body and silver-grey wings. In the breeding season their black cap tapers to a fine point above an orange-pink bill. Caspian terns feed by plunging for surface-swimming fish; they also take whitebait, bullies and eels. These terns are found throughout the temperate world, except for South America. The New Zealand population was estimated at 3000 birds. The terns breed mainly around the coast, although some nest inland near Lake Rotorua and on river beds in Canterbury. Colonies are usually close to other terns or gulls. They breed from September to January and lay one to three light-flecked eggs in a shallow scrape on sand. Terns’ chief enemies are black-backed gulls, which eat the eggs and chicks. Chicks fledge at 33–38 days. Caspian terns live about 24 years. Threats are mainly increased human activity including planting of marram grass and/or trees on the bare sand spits they nest on, and disturbance by beach goers, especially the likes of four-wheel-drive and other off-road vehicles.
taranui - Caspian tern - Sterna caspia
These photos were taken at a colony of about 100 pairs way out in the dry lake bed of Lake Ellesmere. Their colony was situated on what might normally be a small, very low island, but with the very dry spring it was surrounded by hectares of bare, flat, dried mud lake bed. Most of the chicks were well grown and highly mobile, though still downy, and were gathered in large creches , but some nests still contained young birds and/or eggs.
Caspian's don't react well to disturbance so these shots were the result of a long, patient, slither across the mud pausing frequently to prevent the birds from panicking.
The largest of the native terns in New Zealand. They are about 51 centimetres long and weigh 700 grams. They have a white body and silver-grey wings. In the breeding season their black cap tapers to a fine point above an orange-pink bill. Caspian terns feed by plunging for surface-swimming fish; they also take whitebait, bullies and eels. These terns are found throughout the temperate world, except for South America. The New Zealand population was estimated at 3000 birds. The terns breed mainly around the coast, although some nest inland near Lake Rotorua and on river beds in Canterbury. Colonies are usually close to other terns or gulls. They breed from September to January and lay one to three light-flecked eggs in a shallow scrape on sand. Terns’ chief enemies are black-backed gulls, which eat the eggs and chicks. Chicks fledge at 33–38 days. Caspian terns live about 24 years. Threats are mainly increased human activity including planting of marram grass and/or trees on the bare sand spits they nest on, and disturbance by beach goers, especially the likes of four-wheel-drive and other off-road vehicles.